The first week of February was a frustrating one for Marshall County boys basketball coach Gus Gillespie and his team.

That week is history.

“This is a different team,” Gillespie said after watching his Marshals grind out a 55-53 overtime victory against Fourth District rival Calloway County, the centerpiece of a three-win week for the Marshals.

D.J. Pigg, a 43-percent shooter from long range, drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat the Lakers, the First Region’s second-best team with a 19-5 record.

The week got off to a slow start, as Livingston Central, which came in with a 5-15 record, sprinted out to an early lead.

But Marshall County steadied itself and won going away on Feb. 11.

The Calloway victory was followed by a Saturday night win over a very tough St. Mary team.

That answered Gillespie’s urging for his team to perform at a higher level than they had previous done on Friday-Saturday games.

THIS WEEK: The Marshals, 17-10, entertain Mayfield in the final home game of the regular season at 7:30 tonight and travel to Hopkinsville to play Christian County at 7:30 Thursday.

Fourth District tournament action begins Feb. 25 at Reed Conder Gymnasium with Marshall County meeting Murray at 7:30 p.m. The winner will meet Calloway County at 7:45 Feb. 27 for the championship, with both teams advancing to the First Region tournament the following week at Murray State University.

Marshall Co. 55

Calloway Co. 53 (OT)

DRAFFENVILLE – Sophomore sharpshooter D.J. Pigg drained a shot from deep in the right corner as time ran out in overtime to lift the Marshals to a win and a frenzied celebration on the Reed Conder Gymnasium hardwood.

The shot came after Calloway County’s Parker Adams put the Lakers ahead 53-52 on a drive to the basket and a free throw. A blocking foul was called on Marshal center Austin Rentfrow, who went to the bench with his fifth foul with 29.6 seconds left in the extra period.

Mason Wooten worked the Calloway defense for a drive to the basket, but his shot was off and the rebound was batted out of bounds and awarded to Marshall County with 2.9 seconds left.

Dawson Jolley fired the inbounds pass to Pigg as he broke for the corner, and the shot hit nothing but the bottom of the net, triggering explosive cheers from the home audience.

Pigg contributed another clutch 3-pointer that helped the Marshals battle back from the largest deficit of the game, a 42-35 score with 4:24 left in regulation, which ended in a 48-48 tie.

The teams swapped the lead three times in the extra period.

Rentfrow led all scorers with 18 points and also pulled down 14 rebounds.

Pigg finished with 11 points, and Wooten had 17.

Adams had 17 to lead Calloway. Michael Arnett had 14 and Wade Carter 10.

The Lakers, with the First Region’s second-best record at 19-5, had bombed Marshall County from 3-point range in taking a 43-31 win at Calloway on Jan. 10. Friday night, they were 0-for-4 from outside the arc.